Better Soon
by bamfhowell
Summary: Dan Howell is a 16-year-old boy who loses his family to a house fire. He wants to be strong but he's finding it harder and harder to be. Luckily, his Godfather Phil, is there to try and make him feel better.


It's been two days and 16-year-old Dan Howell was still finding it hard to believe that his family home was burned down, with his family in it. Dan didn't want to believe that it happened. These past two days have been the hardest of Dan's life, and he didn't think he would ever be okay again after this, he didn't know if he would be happy again for a long time.

Two days ago there was a house fire in his family's home. Dan hadn't been there when it happened; he had been at the store, getting some food for his mother to cook dinner... and when he got back home, his house was on fire and it was too late to save his family. His mother, father and his younger brother who was only 13, were in the house. Dan had cried when it happened, he cried a lot. They were the only family he had, the only people who truly cared about him.

It had been all over the news, on the TV and in the paper. People tried to ask him questions about the incident, personal questions too, but Dan ignored them. It was still being talked about, which made it even harder for Dan. Dan just wanted it to all end so he didn't have to think about his poor family suffering in that house fire. Dan hated it. He absolutely hated everything and everyone right now. They didn't even know what caused the fire, and that hurt Dan quite a bit.

Dan had been staying at a hotel for the past two days... but his Godfather, Phil, had found out what happened to Dan's family and he was letting Dan stay with him. Phil was the only family that Dan had left now so of course he wasn't going to refuse to stay with him. Dan had always been quite close with his Godfather, which made things a lot easier for both of them. Dan knew that he could trust Phil with his life. Phil had always cared about him, ever since he was young.

"Dan, I'm so glad you came," Phil said to Dan, who was standing on the porch in front of him.

"Thank you... for letting me stay," Dan whispered as he looked up at Phil.

"Don't thank me. You would think I would let you stay in a hotel after what happened? No. You deserve to stay somewhere nice. My home is now yours," Phil told him. "Come in..." He said as he stepped aside and watched as Dan, quite nervously, walked into the house. "Are you hungry? Do you want anything to drink?" Phil asked as he shut the door and locked it.

Dan shook his head. "No, I'm fine... thank you," He said quietly.

"Is that the only bag you have?" Phil asked, frowning when he saw Dan was carrying one bag.

Dan turned and looked over at Phil with sad eyes, the saddest eyes that Phil has ever seen. It broke Phil's heart to see someone like Dan like this. Every time he saw Dan, Dan was usually smiling and he was happy and filled with joy. Now Dan was quiet and sad. Phil wanted to do everything he could to make Dan feel better. He knew he couldn't fix things, but this was the least he could do after everything that Dan has been through the past couple of days.

"Everything else was... destroyed in the fire. This is what people had given me," Dan explained.

"Dan, I'm so sorry about what happened-" Phil said as he walked over to Dan. "I know you must be hurting right now, with what happened to your family, and I want you to know that I'll be there for you no matter what. If you need anything... just tell me and I'll help you."

"Why me?" Dan asked quietly as he looked up at Phil again with watery eyes.

"Wh-What do you mean?" Phil asked nervously as he stared at Dan.

"Why did this have to happen to me? Why my family? We're nice people, we never did anything wrong to anyone. They were nice people! They cared about me. They didn't deserve to die like this and it's not fair!" Dan cried as tears poured out of his eyes. Dan was surprised that he had any tears left, because he spent the past two days crying his eyes out.

"Dan-" Phil immediately wrapped his arms around Dan and pulled him into a hug. "I'm sorry Dan, I really am. I knew your mum and dad quiet well and they didn't deserve this, and neither did your brother. I know this doesn't make you feel any better... but I'm just glad you're still alive."

"I don't want to be alive, I want to be with my family!" Dan cried into Phil's chest.

"Shh, it's okay love. You have every right to be upset. Just let it all out," Phil whispered as he rubbed Dan's back. Phil really did feel terrible for Dan, and he knew that Dan didn't deserve to go through any of this. He was so young, only 16-years-old. He deserved to be happy.

It's been three days since Dan had arrived at Phil's house. Things haven't gotten any better. Dan wasn't sleeping properly and when he did manage to fall asleep... he would have horrible nightmares about the house fire and his family. It was all that he could think about.

Dan was thankful that he didn't have to go to school for quite a while. He didn't know how he would be able to handle it, with everything horrible that was going. Dan didn't hate school, but it's not like he enjoyed it. He had a few friends here and there, and luckily he wasn't one of those kids that got beaten up in school for being gay. He was actually quite popular, which made things much easier for Dan. But still, Dan definitely wouldn't have been able to handle himself at school.

Phil didn't know about the nightmares Dan had been having for the past three nights. Dan listened to what Phil said about Phil being there for him and helping him but... Dan just didn't want to pour all of his problems on Phil. Dan wanted to be able to take care of himself, but he didn't know how to do it, he was only 16-years-old. He always had his mother and father to look after him and care for him and make sure he was doing the right thing. Now he had no one.

Phil sighed as he was walking down the hallway to Dan's bedroom. It was around 7 o'clock in the evening on a Saturday. Dan hadn't come out of his (new) room all day. Phil was getting worried about him so he thought that he would go check on him and make sure he wasn't starving or anything. Phil did care about the boy, and wanted to make sure he was safe. Phil had always been close with Dan's parents and he didn't want to disappoint them. He wanted to get Dan back on track and make him happy again, and he would do whatever it takes to get him there again. He knew it wouldn't be easy, and he knew it would take a while, but it would be worth it.

Phil went to knock on the door to Dan's bedroom but he stopped, and he could have sworn that he heard sniffs coming from the inside. Dan had been very emotional the past couple of days, which was totally understandable. Dan had every right to be hurt and upset. Phil took a deep breath and then he finally knocked on the door. "Dan?" Phil asked. He hesitated before he pushed the door open. He walked into the room. Phil looked up and frowned when he saw Dan curled up in his bed, and Phil didn't even have to see Dan to know that he was crying. "Hey, Dan..."

"Go away. I don't want you to see me crying," Dan mumbled as he wiped away his tears, but they only kept pouring out of his eyes. Dan grabbed the blanket and pulled it over his head.

Phil sighed slightly and then he walked over to Dan's bed and sat down. "You don't have to be ashamed for crying, Dan. This isn't something easy to deal with," He said.

"I'm su-supposed to be strong," Dan cried from under the blankets.

"You don't have to be strong. You're still very young and you've lost your family... it's going to take a while for you to be okay again but, you will be okay again eventually. Trust me when I say this Dan... you don't have to be ashamed of crying. You have every right to cry," Phil said. He reached over and gently pulled the blankets down and smiled slightly when he looked at Dan. "I know there's nothing I can do to bring your family back but... I'm going to be there for you."

"Why? You have your own life to worry about," Dan whispered.

"Doesn't mean I don't have room in my life to worry about you too," Phil told him.

"I can't sleep anymore. I keep having nightmares about it..." Dan said.

"You aren't sleeping? Why didn't you say anything to me sooner, Dan?" Phil asked, frowning.

"It's lke I said previously... you have your own life to worry about," Dan mumbled.

Phil rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Scoot over." He said to Dan.

"What?" Dan asked, blinking a few times as he looked up at Phil.

"Scoot over." Phil repeated. He smiled as he watched Dan scoot over and then Phil crawled over to him and sat down next to him. "I want you to get some sleep. You've had a rough past couple of days and you deserve some rest. I know you're scared so if you wake up... I'll be there for you so you won't be alone." Phil told him. He looked down at Dan and smiled.

Dan looked over at him. "C-Can we cuddle?" He asked.

Phil reached over and wiped away the tears that were on Dan's cheek. "Of course we can. We can cuddle however long you want." He said. He chuckled when Dan turned and snuggled up to him immediately. Phil wrapped his arms around Dan and pulled him close to him. "Get some sleep love." Phil whispered. He reached over and grabbed the blanket and covered Dan with it again.

"I love y-" Dan's eyes fluttered shut and he was fast asleep before he could finish the sentence.

Phil chuckled as he watched Dan fall asleep. "You'll feel better soon, Bear."


End file.
